Curbing My Enthusiasm

I've been a travel and hostess bunny for almost ten days. I've enjoyed seeing my best friend in White Rock, British Columbia. The second day that I was there I learned I had a major project to complete. However, I couldn't get started on it while I was out of the country. 

I curbed my enthusiasm to dive right in. Instead I mulled, I wrote more words in my current WIP, and I didn't stress too much about it all. The time I spent "playing" was actually just what my brain needed to get ready.

When I returned from Canada, I had to get ready for a visit with more friends who were traveling to see my  family. On Friday I took time away from the task to meet with a writing friend who walked me through how to approach my next big task. I learned a lot, I was ready to roll, but I had to curb enthusiasm again. I've spent three wonderful days with my friends, read a lot, made tons of notes when inspired, and continued to mull. 

I've learned something about myself this week. 

I tend to be a "dive in and do it" kind of gal. This time I was forced by circumstances to sit at  the edge of the pool and dip my toes into the water. I had to swirl it quietly. I had to watch how other people were swimming and handling the deep end. I had to think about how I would go into the water. I had to consider the strokes I would use to cut through the deep end and reach the other side. I had to review my earlier efforts at learning how to swim. 

Oh, I wanted to dive in. The urge was still there. The desire to get the job done was pulling at me. But I'm so glad I had my visits with my friends. They helped me generate new ideas and thoughts about how to approach the next heat of my race. 

When I dive into the water this week, I'll be ready. I know I will be fast. I know I will work hard to get to the other side of the pool. And I know I have lots of people who believe I can do it well.

How do you wait when you want to go forward and can't get started?

Tuesday Accomplishments

Yesterday I worked for four hours and managed to lay down the flesh of the newly constructed framework of the story leading all the way to the end. It still needs editing, but I have actual scenes to edit. Wahoo!! I printed out the last 50 pages and am reading through them this afternoon. My morning is a little shot otherwise I'd do it now, but my darling daughter arrived home at 3:30PM so I lost some sleep, and after going back to bed, I slept in till 7:30--now her piles of laundry and mine are in the washer and I am finally able to catch up.

I'm getting my pencil out for this read through... making changes and going through the entire novel with my find tool with the XXX parts to work on as well as words I use a lot LOL. Then I will print out the final 50 again tomorrow, and do a highlighter edit. Then back into it again. Whatever is accomplished between now and Friday afternoon, is it. I am FINISHED. I need to move on to a fresh story and a new idea.

Not that this one doesn't need tweaking. But at least it is tweakable.

New Goals for a New Year

Christmas is stripped away and the house is empty of all holiday distractions. School starts in two sleeps and life will become more routine and regulated in the days ahead. The new family calendar is hung on the fridge and is brimming with activities for me, my daughter and more. Travel arrangements are made for two weekends and one full week before we even reach the month of April.

And fresh writing and time to do it is opening up like a well of opportunity for me to drop in my ideas.

Today I will reset my goals on paper, print them out and post them somewhere where I can torture myself with the desire to achieve them. This process helps me regain my focus. And, at the end of the year, I will have the satisfaction of reviewing how many of my personal and career goals I've achieved.

I've always been a list maker, so setting down my goals in concrete terms helps me because I can check each accomplishment off one-by-one, day-by-day, month-by-month.

The biggest goal I have is to actively market my books. That will take courage and conviction and a tough skin.

But I've got all three. They've been hard-won and I don't take them for granted.